Bowling ball accelerating return system



Sept. 14, 1965 R. l- ANDERSON BOWLING BALL ACCELERATi-NG RETURN SYSTEM Filed March 10, 1958 3 Sheets-Sheet 1 I 111(4112 or Forilfindensom rag/5 Sept. 14, 1965 R. 1. ANDERSON 3,206,199

BOWLING BALL ACCELERATING RETURN SYSTEM Filed March 10, 1958 3 Sheets-Sheet 2 Sept. 14, 1965 R. 1. ANDERSON 3,206,199

BOWLING BALL ACCELERATING RETURN SYSTEM Filed March 10, 1958 3 Sheets-Sheet 5 l rz1/crzfor iober'flifla e rs 01L United States Patent 3,206,199 BOWLING BALL ACCELERATING RETURN SYSTEM Robert I. Anderson, Muskegon, Mich assignor to Brunswick Corporation, a corporation of Delaware Filed Mar. 10, 1958, Ser. No. 720,387 Claims. (Cl. 27349) This invention relates to a ball return system for a bowling alley and more particularly to a concealed ball return system in which the ball is not visible in its travel from the pit end to the players end of a bowling alley.

An object of this invention is to provide a new and improved concealed ball return.

Another object of this invention is to provide a concealed ball return system having ball receiving means located at the player's end of the alley, means providing a concealed depressed path of travel for a ball from adjacent the pit of the alley to said receiving means, means for accelerating a ball prior to entry thereof onto said second mentioned means to insure the ball reaching said receiving means, and means positioned in advance of said ball accelerating means to provide a time interval for engagement of successive balls with said accelerating means and to insure a first ball reaching said ball receiving means well prior to a second ball.

A further object of the invention is to provide a ball return system in which a return track is substantially positioned beneath the level of a bowling alley deck and has at the players end thereof a loop-type ball return including an inclined track section and a drop sweep portion at the pit end thereof extending downwardly from a position at the upper level of the bowling alley kickbacks to the lower level of the return track, ball receiving means for receiving a ball from the inclined track of the loop return and for holding balls in a position available to a bowler, ball accelerating means including a driven belt adjacent the drop sweep portion of the return track for engagement with a ball to accelerate the ball for travel along the return track to the ball receiving means, and ball spacing means positioned in advance of said ball accelerating means including a movable member having a cam part engageable by a ball and a blocking device whereby the engagement of a ball with the cam part moves the blocking device into position to prevent passage of a succeeding ball so long as the first ball is in engagement with the cam part whereby a minimum spacing between balls traveling along the return track is provided to insure that a first ball clears the loop-type ball return prior to entry of a second ball therein.

Further objects and advantages will become apparent from the following detailed description taken in connection with the accompanying drawings in which:

FIG. 1 is a fragmentary vertical section of a bowling alley and the concealed ball return mechanism with parts broken away and a portion of the cover for the loop-type return removed;

FIG. 2 is a fragmentary vertical section on an enlarged scale of the ball spacer and ball accelerating means shown in association with a part of the drop-sweep portion of the return track;

FIG. 3 is a fragmentary plan view on a further enlarged scale of the ball spacer means shown in full lines in ball blocking position;

FIG. 4 is a vertical section of the ball spacer taken generally along the line 4-4 in FIG. 3;

FIG. 5 is a fragmentary end view of the ball spacer looking toward the left hand end in FIG. 4;

FIG. 6 is an enlarged detail view in elevation of a part of the loop-type return; and

FIG. 7 is a fragmentary section on an enlarged scale taken substantially along the line 77 in FIG. 1.

While this invention is susceptible of embodiment in many different forms, there is shown in the drawings and will herein be described in detail an embodiment of the invention with the understanding that the present disclosure is to be considered as an exe-mpliii-cation of the principles of the invention and is not intended to limit the invention to the embodiment illustrated. The scope of the invention will be pointed out in the appended claims.

As shown in FIG. 1, the bowling alley has a bed with a top deck indicated generally at 1 and adjacent the pit is provided with a pair of kickbacks with the nearer kickback of a pair being shown at 2.

The concealed ball return system includes a depressed return track or runway 3 extending for the most part at a level beneath the alley bed surface and located transversely generally between adjacent gutters of adjacent alleys. The return track 3 provides a generally concealed path for a ball for substantially the entire travel thereof from the pit end of the alley to the players end. The return track 3 has a beginning section 3a on top of the kickback 2 which may be a lead-out track of an automatic pinsetter and a drop sweep or down sweep portion 322 of the return track connects the beginning section with the intermediate depressed main length of the return track. The return track is formed by a pair of rods spaced apart a distance sufficient to support a ball positioned thereon and rods 4 and 5 in the beginning section are typical. The return track 3 has an inclined up sweep loop track section 6 with a reversely curved terminal section 6a whereby a ball rolling up the inclined track 6 and along the terminal section Go will bump against a pad 103 (FIG. 6) and drop by gravity onto a pad 7 of a ball rack 8 forming ball storage means. The ball rack 8 has a slight downward inclination so that a ball will roll towrd the terminal post 9 and past a ball check 10 which is pivoted by pin 11 to the ball rack 8. The ball check 10 permits a ball to pass therebeyond while preventing inadvertent reverse movement of a ball toward the right, as viewed .in FIG. 1, by engagement of the pivoted ball check 10 with a bumper 12. The ball rack 8 is supported at one end by an alley engaging leg 13 and at its other end by suitable brace members 14 and 15. A pair of cover members 16 and 17 substantially enclose the loop-type ball return.

The loop-type ball return requires that a ball have suiii cient velocity to traverse the terminal section 6a of the inclined track 6 and for this purpose, ball accelerating and propelling means are provided. This means is indicated generally at 20 in FIG. 1 and is shown more particularly in FIGS. 2 and 3. A brace member 21 suitably fastened to the kickback 2 and a brace member 22 fastened to the kickback 2 and the brace member 21 support a frame member having downturned sides one of which is shown at 23. The sides 23 are in spaced apart relation and at one end rotatably mount a pulley 24 and at their other end pivotally support a forked arm 25 by a pair of pivot pins 26, there being one pivot pin associated with each of the member sides and a fork of the arm 25. The arm 25 at its lower end rotatably mounts a pulley 27. A travelling ball engaging means in the form of a relatively wide belt 28 travels about the pulleys 24 and 27 and is caused to travel at a relatively high speed in the direction of arrow 29 by a power means such as motor 30 which is connected to drive the pulley 24 by a drive belt 31. The spring 32 connected between the arm 25 and a frame bracket 33 maintains the ball engaging belt 28 in a relatively taut condition. The frame bracket 33 is pivotally mounted, as indicated at 33a, so that spring 32 also maintains belt 31 taut.

The ball accelerating means is positioned in association with the drop sweep portion 312 of the return track whereby a ball will roll into engagement with the driven belt 28 as it enters upon the drop sweep portion and shortly thereafter as the ball rolls down the drop sweep portion, it will move out of engagement with the driven belt 23 after it has been accelerated to a sufficient extent to insure the ball will travel along the return track 3 and complete its travel along the terminal section 6a of the ball return.

In order to make certain that two balls will not collide during their travel to the ball receiving device at the players end of the alley and particularly when a first ball is reduced in speed as it moves upwardly along the inclined track 6 and terminal section 6a onto the ball rack S, a ball spacer indicated generally at 40 and shown particularly in FIGS. 3, 4 and 5 is provided. This ball spacer provides for a time interval between entry of successive balls into the ball accelerating means and insures that sufficient time will have elapsed before a second ball is allowed to commence its return travel to the ball receiving means at the players end of the alley. This is particularly important because of the ball acceleration since a second ball will be travelling at a high speed while a first ball is decelerating on the looptype return.

The ball spacer has a frame including parts 41, 42 and 43 by which it is supported relative to the beginning section 3a of the return track and a further frame member 44 as shown in FIG. 1 may connect to a support member 45a upstanding from the kickback 2. j

The ball spacer means 40 comprises a movable member 45 which is pivotally movable about an axis extending parallel to the length of the track section 3a and which has a pair of arms 46 and 47 pivotally mounted in collars 48 and 49 formed on the frame member 41.

' The movable member 45 is normally urged to the position shown in broken line in FIG. 5 wherein an elongated cam part 50 of the member 45 is extending upwardly into the path of a ball moving along the tracks 4 and 5. The member 45 is urged to this position by a counterweight 51 connected to the member 45. The member 45 has a ball blocking device 54 at an end thereof which is normally in a position beneath the path of a ball, as shown in broken line in FIG. 5 resting against a bumper 52. When a ball enters the area of the ball spacer 40, it contacts the elongated cam part 50 of the member 45 and with the cam part 50 having a slight curvature along its length the gradual progression of a ball therealong pivots the member 45 to the full line position in FIGS. 3, 4 and 5 with the result that the blocking device 54 is moved to its full line blocking position and maintained in said position until such time as a ball rolls off the extremity 50a of the member 45. This establishes a minimum spacing between the balls for the purpose set forth herein. When a ball rolls beyond the extremity 50a the counterweight 51 is operative to return the parts to the broken line position to permit a succeeding ball to pass to the ball accelerating means 20.

An anti-rollback device comprises an arm overlying the depressed return track 3 adjacent the loop end thereof and is mounted for counter-clockwise pivoting as shown in FIG. 1 whereby a ball may pass thereby on its way to the inclined track 6. If a ball fails to climb the inclined track 6 and rolls back, it will be stopped by the arm 60 and may be withdrawn through a door (not shown) in the alley bed.

The pad 103 is part of a ball snubber shown in detail in FIG. 6. The ball coming up the terminal track section 6a has sufiicient velocity to continue on a line tangent to the track. The ball strikes the pad 103 and is directed down to the pad 7. This ball center line path is shown by arrows in FIG. 1. Looking at FIG. 1, a ball rotates clockwise along the return track but will roll counter-clockwise onto ball rack 8.

The pad 103 is supported on a deflector bracket 100 connected to a frame member 109 by a bolt 104 and a nut 107 and having a steel washer 106 and rubber Wash- 4- ers and 110 on opposite sides of the bracket 100. A deflector brace 101 is connected to the bracket 100 at one end. At the other end it is connected to a frame part 113 by a bolt 112 and nut 108 with a rubber washer 111 between the frame part 113 and the brace 101. The pad 103 has a rubber pad 102 therebeneath.

The deflector is adjusted by means of bolt 104 and nut 107 so that a ball at one extreme will not shootout onto the ball rack 8 and at the other extreme will not remain on the pad 7. A larger adjustment can bemade by adding or removing washers 105 and 110. Similar adjustments can be made at the connection of the deflector brace 101 to the frame part 113.

As shown in FIG. 7, the pad 7 has a pair of spaced rubber rails and 121 covered by a nubby material 122, such as carpeting.

I claim:

1. A concealed bowling ball return system for use with a bowling alley, comprising, in combination, a return track having a length disposed beneath the level of an alley bed surface and having a drop sweep portion extending upwardly from said length adjacent the pit end of the alley and an upwardly inclined ball-discharging loop-shaped part at the players end of the alley, a ball receiving device at the players end of the alley for receiving a ball from said loop-shaped part, a ball accelerating device positioned adjacent the drop sweep portion of the return track including a motor driven belt overlying said portion and engageable with a ball on said portion whereby a ball is increased in speed to complete its travel along said track and said loop-shaped part, and moves away from the belt as the ball moves further along said portion, and a ball spacer alongside the return track and ahead of the ball accelerating device for controlling the entry of balls into the ball accelerating device whereby a first ball may clear the loop-shaped part before a second ball enters said part including a movable member having a blocking device for a ball and a ball-engageable cam member, and means for urging the cam member into the path of a ball and the blocking device to a non-blocking position whereby the engagement of a ball with the cam member moves the blocking device to a blocking position until the ball disengages from the cam member.

2. In a bowling ball return system for use with a bowling alley, a return track having a length along the alley and having a drop sweep portion extending up wardly from said length adjacent the pit end of the alley and an upwardly inclined ball-discharging loop-shaped part at the players end of the alley, a ball receiving device at the players end of the alley positioned beneath said loop-shaped part for receiving a ball therefrom, a ball accelerating device positioned above the drop sweep portion of the return track including .a motor driven belt overlying said portion and engageable with a ball on said portion whereby a ball is increased in momentum and moves away from the belt as the ball moves further along said portion, and a ball spacer in advance .ofsaid belt and alongside the return track for spacing the entry of balls into the ball accelerating device whereby a first ball may clear the loop-shaped part before a second ball enters said part, including, a movable member having a blocking device for a ball and a ball-engageable cam member, and means for urging the cam memberinto the path of a ball and the blocking device to a non-blocking position, said cam member being shaped whereby engagement thereof by a ball movesthe blocking device to a blocking position until the ball disengages from the cam member.

3. In a ball return system for a bowling alley, areturn track for guiding a ball along a depressed path from one end of an alley to the other, means for receiving a ball at the end of said path and placing the ball at a location convenient to a bowler including an upwardly inclined track connected with said guiding track and a storage device adjacent the track, driven ball accelerator means etxending along the return track engageable with a ball for imparting a speed to a ball sufficient to traverse said return track and inclined track, and means positioned in advance of said ball accelerator means and along said return track for spacing the advance of successive balls into engagement with the ball accelerator means whereby a first ball will have sufiicient time to clear the inclined track before the arrival of a second ball at the track.

4. A ball return mechanism as defined in claim 3 wherein the ball spacing means comprises, a movable member, means mounting said member for pivotal movement about an axis extending parallel to the path of ball travel, means yieldably urging said member to a first position wherein an elongated part or" said member is positioned for engagement by a ball, said elongated part being shaped to extend into the path of a ball whereby a ball causes pivoting of the member to a second position, a blocking device at one end of said member in a nonblocking position when the member is in its first position and having a blocking position when the member is in its second position, whereby engagement of a ball with said elongated part moves the blocking device to a blocking position for such time as a ball engages said part.

5. In a bowling alley for use with bowling balls of substantially uniform size but of various weights within a definite weight range, said bowling alley having at one end a pit and at the other end a ball storage means, the combination of a return runway comprising a down sweep section, an up sweep section and an elongated substantially horizontal intermediate section, said down sweep section being disposed with its ball-receiving end portion adjacent said pit, said up sweep section being disposed to deliver balls to said storage means, and said intermediate section extending generally lengthwise of the alley beneath the floor of the alley; a pisitively actuated ball-propelling device including a travelling ball-engaging means; means mounting said device with said ball-engaging means disposed in operative position with respect to said down sweep section such that a ball of said substantially uniform size can be engaged between said ball-engaging means and a portion of said down sweep section and travel of said ball-engaging means in one direction will propel each such ball so engaged along the down sweep section with a forward rolling motion, the construction and arrangement being such that the ratio between the initial rate of the rolling motion imparted to a ball by said ball-engaging means and the rate of movement of said travelling ball-engaging means is substantially the same for any such ball so engaged when the weight of the ball is in said definite weight range, said ball-propelling device comprising power means operatively connected to said ball-engaging means to drive the same in said one direction at a rate such that said ball-engaging means imparts to each ball engaged thereby a predeter mined initial forward rotational velocity suflicient to assure that the ball will successfully negotiate the complete return runway including said up sweep section, said predetermined initial velocity being such that all such bowling balls so successfully negotiating said return runway will enter the ball storage means with a safely limited residual velocity.

References Cited by the Examiner UNITED STATES PATENTS 695,624 3/02 Reisky 27347 974,400 11/ 10 Lee 27347 1,160,018 11/15 Vearing 27347 2,175,750 10/39 Edwards 27347 2,207,643 7/40 Strong 27349 2,297,330 9/42 Schoepfer 27347 2,566,109 8/51 Anderson 27347 2,682,407 6/54 Huck 27349 2,776,138 1/57 Holloway et a1. 27349 2,788,972 4/57 Turner 27347 FOREIGN PATENTS 908,621 10/62 Great Britain.

OTHER REFERENCES Application of John Ernst, Serial No. 700,064, filed December 2, 1957, now abandoned.

ELBERT B. LOWE, Primary Examiner. 

5. IN A BOWLING ALLEY FOR USE WITH BOWLING BALLS OF SUBSTANTIALLY UNIFORM SIZE BUT OF VARIOUS WEIGHTS WITHIN A DEFINITE WEIGHT RANGE, SAID BOWLING ALLEY HAVING AT ONE END A PIT AND AT THE OTHER END A BALL STORAGE MEANS, THE COMBINATION OF A RETURN RUNWAY COMPRISING A DOWN SWEEP SECTION, AN UP SWEEP SECTION AND AN ELONGATED SUBSTANTIALLY HORIZONTAL INTERMEDIATE SECTION, SAID DOWN SWEEP SECTION BEING DISPOSED WITH ITS BALL-RECEIVING END PORTION ADJACENT SAID PIT, SAID UP SWEEP SECTION BEING DISPOSED TO DELIVER BALLS TO SAID STORAGE MEANS, AND SAID INTERMEDIATE SECTION EXTENDING GENERALLY LENGTHWISE OF THE ALLEY BENEATH THE FLOOR OF THE ALLEY; A PISTIVELY ACTUATED BALL-PROPELLING DEVICE INCLUDING A TRAVELLING BALL-ENGAGING MEANS; MEANS MOUNTING SAID DEVICE WITH SAID BALL-ENGAGING MEANS DISPOSED IN OPERATIE POSITION WITH RESPECT TO SAID DOWN SWEEP SECTION SUCH THAT A BALL OF SAID SUBSTANTIALLY UNIFORM SIZE CAN BE ENGAGED BETWEEN SAID BALL-ENGAGING MEANS AND A PORTION OF SAID DOWN SWEEP SECTION AND TRAVEL OF SAID BALL-ENGAGING MEANS IN ONE DIRECTION WILL PROPEL EACH SUCH BALL SO ENGAGED ALONG THE DOWN SWEEP SECTION WITH A FORWARD ROLLING MOTION, THE CONSTRUCTION 